This book provides an overview of the key challenges currently faced in the Euro Area and OECD's main policy recommendations to address them. Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, the book tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the...

This paper provides background to the Board paper on Macro Policy Lessons for a Sound Design of Fiscal Decentralization. It summarizes the findings and recommendations of the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) for ten countries to which it provided advice on fiscal decentralization. The selected...

Fiscal decentralization has been, and remains high on the policy agenda of many countries. It is mainly driven by political pressures, which tend to be especially evident in countries with multiple ethnicities, and/or wide regional disparities in incomes or resource endowments. More generally,...

Many countries have initiated reforms in their monetary control procedures by relaxing direct controls and increasing the role of market processes. The changed approach is often inevitable when countries reform their financial systems in support of growth and adjustment. This is because reform...

For the time being—and possibly for a considerable time to come—developments and prospects for the euro area are quite favorable. This upbeat outlook is underpinned by buoyant activity indicators and a supportive policy mix. High household and business confidence, rising capacity utilization...